The Political Spectrum Scrambled In Europe

I highly recommend Ian Buruma's piece in the latest New Yorker about Dutch attitudes and debates about Muslim immigration. A curious trans-Atlantic political alliance has forged itself, as conservatives in America find common ground with many Dutch liberals who worry that incoming immigrants may not tolerate the host country's tolerant attitudes toward homosexuals, prostitution, pornography and drug use. Here's a provocative paragraph:

"This fear is why forty per cent of Dutch voters are said to agree with the views of Geert Wilders, the right-wing provocateur with dyed blond hair, whose Freedom Party defines itself largely by its antagonism to Islam. He would like to ban the Koran, stop Muslim immigration, force women in Muslim head scarves to pay an extra tax (for "pollution of the public space"), and expect Dutch Muslims with criminal records. As he said in a speech sponsored by the Hudson Institute, 'There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the ifnal stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West."

I disagree about the threat, as well as with all of Wilders' solutions. But I'm extremely interested to see the political spectrum scrambled here and there. I think Dinesh D'Souza wrote a book -- widely panned on release -- that argued American conservatives would find much common ground with many observant Muslims, who typically believe in the same "family values" they profess. So far, he's the only person on the Right I've seen who notes that if there is a clash going on -- God, I hate Samuel Huntington! -- it's between the secular and the religious, not between Islam and the West. Many right-wing commentators prefer instead to dismiss Islam itself as another Fifth Column, disguised and protected by a conspiracy of "political correctness" that dare not offend. (This all while they fervently subscribe to Gen. Stanley McChrystal's Afghanistan strategy that requires us to win over millions of, um, Muslims.)

Stanley Fish -- once D'Souza's sparring parter in a series of illuminating debates -- has made similar noises as D'Souza does from the left. His argument is complicated, and I doubt I can do it justice, but it goes like this: liberalism -- the classical one, with a big L -- doesn't exist as the neutral philosophy it hopes to be. Instead, a series of ideological assumptions underline all its tenets. Yes, you have the right to exercise religion, but not if that means you want to study prayer in public schools, or -- in Wilders' case -- if you want to wear a head scarf in public. What we're seeing with these debates -- can Muslims emigrate to Netherlands without having to watch government-sponsored training seminars showing male couples kiss? -- is the return of Religion Wars. All this in a country that along ago shoved faith off the boat.

But I think we all miss an opportunity when we latch onto religion as the major 'problem' to be addressed. There are plenty of Catholics in this country, for instance, who support a woman's right to choose and still revere the Holy Trinity. Some would say that they were not true Catholics at all (Fish included), but I think most people live somewhere in this gray area, forever negotiating tradition with modern life and personal and cultural forces.

I think that's the case with many Muslims. There's a great moment in the New Yorker piece where one Dutch artist complains that the whole immigration debate has forced religion to the fore, subsuming other parts of her identity (namely, her profession):

Funda Mujde, an actress, cabaret artist, and columnist for a popular Dutch tabloid, was born in Turkey in 1961, and came to Amsterdam as a child. She told me how she was treated in her adopted country: "First, I was a foreigner, an alien. Then, after 9/11, I was suddenly a Muslim. I used to be known as a Turkish cabaret artist. After the row over the Dutch cartoons, I became 'that Muslim cabaret artist.'"

So, it seems to me like most sides in this debate have things the wrong way. Conservatives should look a largely religious observant demographic as a potential boon and ally. Liberals should re-frame the debate away from religion and instead focus on issues of unemployment and forge wide alliances that address concerns that may be more important to Muslims than their religion.

My two cents, anyway.